Vault door and frame



Jan. 19, 1932. J, A, FELLQWS 1,842,084

VAULT DOOR AND FRAME Filed Oct. 18, 1927 2 Sheets-Sheet l :isa-argan l" 2 el 22d, f if! .Fly j 1mm 92d' L Paf/101m m y @ummm Jam 19, 1932 J. A. FELLows VAULT DOOR AND FRAME 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Oct. 18 ,---192'7 n JO/z/LA. Fellowes MMM ttowqa Patented Jan. 19, 1932 .arent Fries JOHN A. FELLOWS, OF CANTON, OHIO, .ASSIGNOR TO DIEBOLD SAFE LOCK COMPANY, OF CANTON, OHIO, A. CORPORATION OF OHIO VAULT DOOR Application filed October 18,

f' of intense heat and flames for a period of `onehalf hour. y

Doors of this type have been constructed by the use of heavy plates for the doors, upon the backs of which the bolt-works are mounted, and frames and vestibules for these Aplate doors have been constructed of heavy structural angle iron and plate. It has been found that such plate doors Warp relatively easily and quickly when subject to fire and intense heat; and in order to prevent the passage of heat into the interior of the vaults it has been necessary to provide inner doors at the inner end of the vestibules.

Doors and frames thus constructed of plates and angles, arevmoreover relatively heavy, and the material cost for the same is consequently relatively great.

Accordingly, the objectsof the present improvements are to provide a fire and heat retarding door and frame therefor, for a record vault which will protect from fire and intense heat for the 'desired period of time the contents of the vault without the use of an inner vestibule door, and which shall moreover require a relatively small'weight of material for its construction, and which shall be adapted for easy and economical manufacture and assemblage. Y

These and ancillary objects are attained by a construction and arrangement hereinafter set forth in detail, and which maybe stated in general terms as including an internally reinforced box door, preferably made of sheet steel or the like, and of a frame fortlie door including a jamb having a tubular or hollow box cross section. The door and the frame are each accordingly adapted for resisting by box beam action, deflection induced by heat or flame. Y Preferred embodiments of the invention Ann rRAME 1927. sensi 110.226,895.

are illustrated in the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, in which Figure l is a fragmentary front elevation view. illustrating the improved door and frame as applied to a vault;

Fig. 2, an enlarged fragmentary vertical cross section thereof as online 2 2, Fig. l;

Fig. 3, an' enlarged fragmentary horizontal crfss section thereof as on line 3-3, Fig. l; an

Fig. t, a view similar to Fig. 3 of a modified embodiment `of the improved door and frame provided with inner vestibule doors, which increase the length of the period of resistance to passage of heat and fiames to the vault interior.

Similar numerals refer to similar parts throughout the drawings.

As illustrated in Figs. l, 2 and 3, the improved hollow box door indicated generally at 1 is hung by suitable hinges 2 on the improved frame indicated generally at 8, and the door may be provided with suitable boltwork which may be controlled by a combination lock indicated generally at 4 and operated by a suitable handle 5.

The improved hollow box door l includes edge members 6a and 6b, a top member 6c and a bottom member 6d all preferably made of formed sheet or strip metal.

All of the door edge, top and bottom members preferably have the saine Z cross section, including, respectively, webs 7a, 7b, 7c and 7d, preferably spaced inwardly from the extreme outer edges of the door and extending perpendicular to the plane of the door front, outwardly extendingfront flanges 8a, 82'), 80 and 8d, and inwardly extending rear flangeslla, 9b, 9c and 9d, thefront and rear flanges being preferably parallel with each other and with the plane of the door front, and the ends of the top, bottom and side members being secured to each otheras by welding.

The door front member l0 is preferably in the form of a steel sheet, secured at its outer borders as by spot welding to the outwardly extending front flanges 8a, 8b, 8c and 8d of the .door side, top and bottom members.

The back member of the door is preferably formed by a steel sheet 11 removably secured as by screws 12 to the inwardly extending flanges 9a, 96, 90 and 9d of the door side and top and bottom members.

The edge, top, bottom, front and rear members of the door thus form a box, the interior of which encloses the boltwork for the door, which may be of any desired design, not shown, and the hollow box door 1 thus formed is preferably reinforced by horizontally extending Z braces 13 and 13 which may be secured to suitable members of the door.

The foregoing novel construction of the door per se is the subject matter of a companion application for United States Letters Patent, Serial No. 226,894, led October 18, 1927, which matured into Patent No. 1,715,- 191, dated May 28, 1929, and this application is directed to the particular use of the door 1 with the improved frame 3, for retarding heat and flames as aforesaid.

The improved door frame indicated generally at 3 includes side combined box jamb and arehitrave members 14a and 146, and

1 a top combined box jamb and architrave nember 140, each preferably made of lengths of formed sheet or strip metal sections.

The outer integral sections of the j amb and architrave members are preferably formed angle members A which include, respectively, front architrave plates 15a, 156, and 150 provided at their outer edges with rearwardly extending spacing flanges 16a, 166, and 1Go, and at their inner edges with rearwardly ex- J tending jamb flanges 17a, 176, and 170, the

plane of the architrave plates being preferably parallel with the plane of the .door front, and the rearwardly extending jamb flanges including inwardly extending U jamb tongues 18a, 186, and 180, having their openings directed outwardly and forming three sides of the tubular or box jambs.

rlhe fourth sides of the tubular or box jambs are formed respectively by the rearwardly extending flanges 19a, 196, and 190 of the inner integral formed angle members B of the j amb and architrave members, and architrave reinforcingflanges 20a, 206, and 200, extend respectively from the forward edges of the flanges 19a, 196, and 190, parallel and in abutment with the architrave plates 15a, 156, and 15e, and rearwardly extending` spacing flanges 21a, 216, and 21e, are provided respectively at the outer edges of the reinforcing flanges 20a, 206, and 20c. Thus each jamb includes hollow jamb members of closed cross-section and extending for being overlapped by the adjacent door flanges.

The U-jamb tongues 18a., 186, and 180, are spaced intermediate the extreme edges of the rearwardly extending jamb flanges 17a, 176, and 170, the outer faces of which abut, respectively, the inner faces of the rearwardly extending flanges 19a, 196, and 190, and are secured thereto as by spot welding; and

likewise the flanges 15a, 156, and 150 are secured, respectively, to the flanges 20a, 206, and 20c as by spot welding.

The forward end bands of vestibule side walls 22a and 226, and of vestibule top wall 220 are secured as by spot welding to the rear end bands of flanges 17a, 176, and 17C; while the vestibule bottom wall may be formed of abutting steel sheets 22d and 22d.

Rear vestibule architrave side plates 23a and 236 may be secured at their upper ends to the outer ends of a rear vestibule architrave top plate 230, and the rear vestibule architrave plates preferably extend parallel with the plane of the door front, and may be provided at their inner edges, respectively, with forwardly extending flanges 24a, 246, and 24e, some of which rearwardly extending flanges may be provided with suitable apertures by which the rear vestibule architrave plates may be removably secured to the rear end bands of the vestibule walls as by means of screws 25, passed through the apertures and screwed into the vestibule Walls and suitable reinforcing bands 2G therefor.

The improved frame 3 thus set forth in detail, is installed in a suitable door opening 27 in a vault wall 28 by separating the rear architrave plates from the vestibule walls, and by inserting the vestibule walls through the door opening until the rear edges of the flanges 16a, 166, and 160, and 21a, 216, and 210 abut against the forward face of the vault wall 28 as best illustrated in Figs. 2 and 3.

The rear vestibule architrave plates may then be joined to the vestibule walls by the screws 25.

One leg 29 of a sheet metal angle bar is preferably spot welded to the web 7a of the door edge member 6a, whereby the other leg 30 of the angle extends laterally outward at the rear of the jamb U tongue 18a, thereby providing with the outwardly extending flange 8a stops preventing removal of the door by removal of the pins of the hinges 2; the bolts 31 of the boltework in extended and locked position, cooperating with the flange 8b and the frame tongue 186 for the same purpose.

Box doors constructed of sheet steel formed and arranged as aforesaid, and swung in the improved frames having the tubular or box beam jambs as aforesaid, have been found to satisfactorily resist the passage into vault interiors of intense heat and llames for the desired period of time, which may be for example one-half hour.

Ordinary plate doors for the same purpose have been found incapable without inner vestibule doors of thus resisting the passage of heat and flames for the same desired period of time.

For still further increasing the resistance to heat and Vflames of the improved door 1, a sheet of asbestos 32 or other non-conductor ifi".

of heat may be applied upon the inner surface of the door back member 1l.

The door and frame illustrated in Fig. 4 is substantially identical with the construction of Figs. l, 2 and 3, with the exception that the frame is adapted to be applied to a vault wall 28 of greater thickness than the vault wall 28, and the rear end of the vestibule walls are secured in a usual manner to a rear vestibule door frame indicated generally at 33 which carries, if desired, rear vestibule doors 34e and 34 for still further resisting the passage of heat and flames.

The construction of the combined box j amb and architrave members, by welding the similarly extending legs of two angles to each other, with an outwardly extending U jamb tongue on the rearwardly extending leg of the outer angle to form the jamb of tubular or hollow box beam cross section, and with rearwardly extending spacing llanges at the outer edges of the architrave plates of both angles for spacing the plates forward of the front face of the vault wall, provides a very strong and economical frame, and the hollow box jamb sections and the space between the architrave plates and the front face of the vault wall, provide dead air ducts which retard the passage of heat and llames into the vault interior.

Moreover the expansion of the tubular Vor box j ambs and the box door by the `action of heat, tend to tighten the closure therebetween, and the box construction tends to prevent warping in the directions to and from the vault interior.

I claim:

1. Door and frame construction for vaults including a box door having a flange extending from one edge thereof, and a frame for the door including a jamb of box beam crosssection extending for being overlapped by the flange, the jamb including formed angle members having their legs abutting and secured to each other.

2. Door and frame construction for vaults including a box door having flanges extending from the edges thereof, and a frame for the door including jamb members of box Vbeam cross-sections extending for being overlapped by the flanges, each j amb ineluding vformed angle members having their legs abutting and secured to each other.

3. Door and frame construction for vaults including a box door having a flange extending from one edge thereof, and a frame for the door including a j amb of box beam cross-section extending for being overlapped by the flange, the jamb including formed angle members having their legs abutting and secured to each other, and a leg of the outer angle member having a protruding U tongue forming with a leg of the inner angle the jamb box beam.

4. Door and frame construction for vaults including a box ldoor having flanges extending from edges thereof, and a frame for the door including jamb members of box beam cross-sections extending for being overlapped by the flanges, each jamb including formed angle members having their legs abutting and secured to each other, and a leg of the outer angle member having a protruding U tongue forming with a leg of the inner angle the jamb box beam.

5. Door and frame construction for vaults including a box door having a flange extending from one edge thereof, and a frame for the door including a combined j amb and architrave, the jamb having a box beam "crosssection extending for being overlapped by the flange.

6. Door and frame construction for vaults including a box door having a flange extending from one edge thereof, and a frame for the .door including a combined amb and arehitrave, the jamb having a box beam crosssection extending for being overlapped by the flange, and the architrave including Va protruding flange for spacing the architrave from the vault wall.

7. Door and frame construction for vaults including a box door having a flange extending from one edge thereof, and a frame for the door including walls forming a hollow jamb of closed cross-section and extending for being overlapped by the flange.

8. Door and frame construction for vaults including a box door having flanges exten-ding from the `edges thereof, and a frame for the door including end connectedv walls forming end connected hollow jambs, each jamb having a closed cross-section and extending for being overlapped by one of the `flanges.

In testimony that l claim the above, I have hereunto subscribed my name.

JOHN A. FELLOWS. 

